Tearing it Up at San Antonio Shopping Center

24Aug

What is it that makes watching big machinery tearing big things apart so much fun? Is it seeing things that seem so permanent and strong go down so quickly?

Today, they started demolition of the Sears store at San Antonio Shopping Center in Mountain View. The kind folks at the nearby Milk Pail Market were on hand to record the drama–or not–with the video below. At this pace we’ll never get a new Safeway, apartment complex, three major retail stores and other shops and restaurants completed.

Intrigued, and needing an excuse to pick up some Makers Mark at Bev Mo, I pedaled over there tonight after work. Would Sears be rubble? Would the main shopping center entrance, the one that hooks up to the bike route from Palo Alto still be open? Most importantly, would I still be able to get to Trader Joes on my way home from work?

No, yes and yes. Here’s what I saw at the end of the day. Not much torn down, but I was very pleased that they didn’t fence off access through the shopping center.

Turns out the demolition today was more ceremonial than functional, with vice mayor Jac Siegel at the controls. Whew! Maybe we’ll see this project completed before the end of the decade.

Is there a shopping center near you that you wish they’d rip and replace? What stores would you want in your new and improved shopping center?

Nearly 32,000 Americans die in car crashes annually. 80% of car crashes are PREVENTABLE. If the TOASTER was killing that many people we'd think it was ridiculous. We'd un-plug it and say, let's Fix The Toaster.